Right time to solve Kashmir issue

the massive pro-azaadi, or pro-freedom, protests which rocked Jammu and Kashmir over the summer, the state's election of a coalition government, - in what has universally been acknowledged as free and fair elections - is both a vote of confidence for Indian democracy and a major blow to the separatist Hurriyat Conference, who urged a boycott of the elections.

But if New Delhi considers this separatist setback as their cue to resume business as usual, it would be a tragic squandering of the mileage they have gained from this watershed election.

If the people of Kashmir rejected the calls of the separatists and came out to vote in large numbers, it was because they made a clear distinction between the problem of Kashmir and the problems of Kashmiris. The latter refers to the quotidian concerns of life in the state. It refers to a desire for basic amenities and good governance which the people have made clear that they would like to see addressed via the established political process.

The former, however, deals with festering feelings of alienation and neglect, and having to suffer the mismanagement of the Indian bureaucracy and the heavy-handedness of the Indian Army. It is the feeling of lacking a strong voice and being caught between the ambitions and insecurities of India and Pakistan, who have reduced the state to little more than a pawn on their political chessboard.

The Hurriyat and its leaders erred in linking the people's popular demand for azaadi with their more fundamental daily concerns. But while Kashmiris certainly turned out in large numbers to ask for their basic amenities, it does not mean that all their pent-up frustrations have been mollified or that the voice of the separatist movement is now irrelevant.

The 'Kashmiri question' still persists and the anger and frustration that massed into those large protests in the summer has yet to be addressed.

It would do us all well if New Delhi keeps this in mind and takes advantage of the fillip they have received from the elections to engage both the separatists and the political parties in Srinagar.

But surely, there will be those in the Indian administration who will now dismiss the Kashmiri separatists as just a noisy minority. They will believe that the people just want economic prosperity and good governance. They will point to the elections as a resounding vote against separatist feelings. This would be a grave mistake.

Yes, India must negotiate - but with negotiators who can come down to earth. To continue blaming and accusing one another is just a waste of time. Negotiating peace requires negotiations with one's own people, more than with one's opponent.

The trouble is that so many in the Indian and Pakistani establishments feed off the Kashmir dispute that one questions their incentive to solve it.

It is in India's interest to take advantage of the election results and world opinion to mount a political and diplomatic offensive to secure peace in Kashmir - because Kashmir's grievances empower Pakistan's extremists. It gives them a cause. Take away the cause, and you take the ground out from under their feet.

Rakesh Mani is a New York-based writer.